The Chelsea company the cell is turning 20, and it is marking the date with one benefit performance: Alice in Phallusland in Concert, a concert staging of Nancy Manocherian’s satirical musical, in the Leonard Nimoy Thalia at Symphony Space on Saturday, December 12, 2026, at 7pm.
Manocherian conceived the piece and wrote its book and lyrics, Joseph Hendel composed the music and added lyrics, and Kira Simring directs. No cast has been named yet; the company says it will announce one in November.
The story flips the sexes in a sealed future city. Inside the Dome, humanity’s last refuge, women hold power and men are kept for breeding. Alice, built as the model for a better human, belongs to Phal, the Dome’s misguided heiress, and has never questioned any of it until a stranger washes up from outside. With a malfunctioning robot nanny, a wayward laptop and the Four Whoresmen of the Apocalypse in tow, she sets out to discover what she is and what being human means.
Manocherian and Simring opened the cell in 2006 as a home for new work, and the evening is a benefit for the company. The Thalia is at 250 West 95th Street. Tickets are $31, or $103 for VIP, and the night runs about two and a half hours. They are on sale through Symphony Space.
